Nonprofit award: Friends of the Rutherford Pool

It isn't just fluff, it's really a critical asset to the community and people understood that.

The Friends of the Rutherford Pool saw their three-year fundraising effort come to fruition in June with the groundbreaking of a new Rutherford Pool in Ypsilanti.

The campaign harnessed a wide variety of funding sources, including community members, foundations, governmental agencies and even two young Ypsilanti expatriates living in Seattle who saved up their weekly allowances to make a small donation.

AnnArbor.com reported in April that the organization’s $1 million fundraising goal had been reached and that Ypsilanti’s City Council approved a memorandum of understanding for the rebuilding of the pool.

"To see that they raised that amount of money for that project, that’s just totally amazing," Councilmember Ricky Jefferson said.

"I'm glad there’s a lot of interest to keep the pool open and I believe this group, Friends of the Rutherford Pool, they need to be commended for their efforts."

For its efforts in bringing a community together to save a critical gathering place and recreational facility, the Friends of the Rutherford Pool won the Nonprofit award on Nov. 1 at the 2013 Ann Arbor News/MLive Media Group Deans of the Year ceremony.

Other nominees in the nonprofit category included Friends of the Ann Arbor Skatepark — for the fundraising effort that led to the park's groundbreaking this year — and The Ark music venue — for the purchase of its performance space, which guarantees its future presence in downtown Ann Arbor.

Steve DeBrabander, who manages the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund, said at the groundbreaking ceremony that he was extremely impressed by the organization’s fundraising efforts.

“I travel all over the state and meet with lots of different communities, and it just doesn’t come together like this very often,” said DeBrabander, whose fund provided $300,000 toward the rebuild.

The new Rutherford Pool is under construction in Ypsilanti, thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Friends of the Rutherford PoolCourtney Sacco | The Ann Arbor News

“What it takes is for the community to come together, it takes some serious leadership… and don’t take it for granted; these things don’t happen like this all the time.”

Before closing in 2011, Rutherford Pool saw around 17,000 visits annually, and 150 families held passes. Daily visits during the summer ranged between 200 and 500. John Weiss, Chair of Friends of the Rutherford Pool, maintained throughout the process that the campaign was about more than just a swimming pool.

“Many people from the outside see Ypsilanti as a struggling or distressed community with few resources, but I think this project tells a much different story,” he said.

“I’m touched when I think of all the people who contributed. I think about everyone who has contributed large and small, and I think about the community that has made this happen. We have an incredibly strong community that rivals any other in the country. I’m just proud to be a part of it.”

The framing of the effort as saving an integral community institution rang true for many of the organizations that stepped forward to help fund the project.

"It is more than a neighborhood pool,” Bob Tetens, Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Director, wrote in a memo to the county parks and recreation commission. The recreation commission made a $150,000 grant that helped boost the organization past its original $1 million goal.

Construction on the pool is underway and is expected to be completed in time for the 2014 summer season.

“It's just a really important project in the community and the volunteers who led this effort were able to make a great case to the community," Weiss said.

"It isn’t just fluff, it’s really a critical asset to the community and people understood that and a lot of the people in the community who use it themselves understand it.”

Ben Freed is a business and general assignments reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at benfreed@mlive.com and follow him on twitter at @BFreedinA2